Did you see that thing? I'm talking about the first episode of Phenomenon, which is a new NBC series that debuted the other night…a show that seeks to do for creepy magicians what American Idol did for people who don't sing as well as they think they do. The word "magic" was never uttered, however. The program seems to want to have it both ways. They aren't claiming its participants actually have supernatural abilities because…well, they don't. But the show seems to be sorta/kinda hoping that some viewers will presume that's what is meant and that they can tune in and see actual miracles, live as they occur. The miracle, of course, is that anyone's tuning in at all.
It all raises a debate that has long raged in the magic community: At what point does a trick stop being a trick and become a fraud? Max Maven telling us what card we're thinking of is a magic trick. Sylvia Browne telling you she's communicating with your dead Uncle Henry is a scam. Somewhere between those extremes, there's a very gray, arguable area which I am not prepared to argue here. I just felt I should note that it goes on.
The most amazing thing about Phenomenon is that one of its two judges, Uri Geller, is actually showing his face on television again. The guy is not only firmly in the "scam" category, he isn't very good at it. He has a small repertoire of rather simple tricks and he's something of a joke among real magicians. (Geller is also apparently one of the show's producers.) The other judge, Criss Angel, is more respected and on the first show, he rated the contestants as magicians, even though he couldn't use that noun and had to avoid the topic, which is close to unavoidable when you critique magic acts, of how they did what he did. In a way, Geller and Angel represent the two sides of the argument I just described.
Angel did not seem impressed by any of the acts on the opening show and neither was I. A lot of folks on it were making predictions so I'll make one about Phenomenon. It won't live up to its name and will disappear soon.